Aging Rodent Core: Evan Keller, Director The central purpose of the Aging Rodent Core (ARC) is to promote the use of mutant and transgenic rodents for investigations of the cellular and molecular biology of aging and the relationship of the aging process to late life disease. The ARC will accomplish its goals through three inter-related initiatives. (1) ARC will pay for per diem costs for investigators who wish to produce aged mice, typically of mutant or transgenic or knockout stocks, that are not otherwise available at older ages. (2) ARC will work with the UM Transgenic Animal Model Facility (TAMF), directed by Sally Camper and Thom Saunders, to assist Shock Center investigators to pay for TAMF services needed to prepare new transgenic or KO mice (and rats) for work in biogerontology. (3) ARC will promote the incorporation of histopathology in such projects by subsidizing the costs of slide preparation for selected projects (roughly 2/year) involving the production of aged mice by NSC researchers. In all these efforts, the ARC Director will provide advice on protocol design and selection of appropriate animal models to UM faculty members who wish to use aged rodents for their studies.